Cooking on Web Video? Naturally...

Chef Keith Snow Leaps From Web Video to TV

The Creators: After working as chef for nearly two decades, Keith Snow created the Web series "Harvest Eating" and launched it online in 2006.

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The Distributors: "Harvest Eating" runs on YouTube, HarvestEating.com, Weather Channel's climate.weather.com, Kashi.com and other sites, generating more than 400,000 views per month. Mr. Snow has created more than 350 videos for the series and also relies on a weekly e-mail newsletter to drive traffic to new videos. The show is slated to leap from the Web to television in May when PBS station KCTS-TV in Seattle becomes the presenting station distributing the show to more than 300 PBS stations.

The Sponsors: Kellog's brand Kashi is on board as a sponsor for the TV version, Mr. Snow said. Mr. Snow has also produced and hosted culinary videos for other sites such as MSN.com and Kashi.com.

Backstory: Mr. Snow manned restaurant kitchens from New Jersey to California and served as the executive chef for the Copper Mountain ski report in Colorado before moving to a farm in North Carolina, where he set up shop for his Web show. He shot most of the early episodes from a kitchen in the barn, using a camera, a tripod and some lights. After starting with a $300 Cannon hand-held camera, the show moved into a kitchen studio and now uses two hi-def cameras and professional lights.

The Content: In each episode, Mr. Snow shows how to use local foods in their seasons. "Harvest eating is about identifying what grows around you and also which things are in season at which times of year and using those items to make healthy meals," he said. Episodes run from two to 10 minutes.

Endgame: When the TV show starts on PBS stations, Mr. Snow said he will continue to provide about five episodes a month exclusively for his Web site. Next up for him is to find a way to migrate from PBS to cable, such as Food Network or Discovery, he said. "I also hope to build one of the largest collections of online cooking videos."